1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical prosthetic device and more particularly to an orthopedic medical prosthetic device. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved asymmetric knee prosthesis and method of surgically implanting same wherein the prosthetic medial femoral condyles include a thinner medial posterior condyle and a thicker lateral posterior condyle, resulting in an elevation of the posterior medial femur joint line with the knee in flexion. The present invention also has a concave proximal anterior region.
2. General Background
Arthroplasty is the making of an artificial joint. In total knee arthroplasty there is a difficulty in reproducing the exact anatomy. The tibia is usually cut at ninety degrees (90.degree.) to its axis in the frontal plane but the tibial plateau is at about eighty seven degree (87.degree.). The disparity is due to the difficulty in accurately reproducing an eighty seven degrees (87.degree.) cut. Also, it has been documented that with an eighty seven degrees (87.degree.) or varus cut the tibial component has a tendency to loosen. (Proceedings of the Knee Society 1985-1986, Laskin, Varus Knee deformity). (Surgery of the Knee, Insall et al, 1993).
With a ninety degree (90.degree.) cut, more bone is removed on the lateral side than on the medial side of the tibia. Neutral is defined as, parallel to a line tangent to the intact (not worn) posterior femoral condyles. When neutral femoral cuts are performed, and implants with equal medial and lateral thicknesses are used, there is a laxity of the lateral collateral ligament at ninety degrees (90.degree.) of flexion. The lateral collateral ligament is lax in flexion because the resection of the tibia and the posterior resection of the femur are not parallel, but the prosthesis implanted has equal medial and lateral thicknesses on the tibial component and posterior condyles of the femoral component. This results in less space on the medial side and more space on the lateral side, which causes unbalanced ligaments.
The current solution to this problem is to rotate the cutting block so that more bone is removed from the posterior medial femoral condyle, this is referred to as external rotation. By externally rotating (clockwise rotation for a left knee when viewed from the distal end), the posterior femoral resection is parallel to the ninety degree (90.degree.) tibial cut. This results in the collateral ligaments being balanced in extension and flexion when the prosthesis is implanted. The current industry standard is three degrees (3.degree.) of external rotation which corresponds to the three degree (3.degree.) difference between the eighty seven degree (87.degree.) anatomical angle of the tibial plateau and the ninety degree (90.degree.) angle of the tibial resection.
The benefits of this surgical procedure have been mentioned but there are some drawbacks. The femoral component is no longer aligned with the tibial component in full extension. The femoral component is rotated about three degrees (3.degree.) with respect to the tibia when it is aligned parallel to the lateral plane. This malalignment potentially could cause increased wear of the tibial insert. A possible solution to this malalignment could be to externally rotate the tibial component, but this would result in reduced tibial coverage, which is not desired. Another possible solution may be to design the insert at an angle, but both turning the tibial tray externally or designing it into the insert have the problem of malalignment in flexion. With externally rotating the femoral component, there will be malalignment with the tibial insert either in flexion or extension whether the tibial tray or tibial insert is aligned straight or externally rotated.
A second problem with traditional external rotation is the chance of notching the lateral anterior femoral cortex. "Notching" occurs when more bone is removed anterolaterally than with the neutral resections resulting in a notch being created in the anterior cortex of the femur. Notching greatly increases the chances of the femur fracturing. A related problem to this is poor anteromedial implant coverage or even a gap between the implant and bone. In order to reduce the chances of notching anteriorly, the lateral side is placed flush with the cortex and a gap develops between the implant and bone anteromedially.
With external rotation, the patella tracking is altered. From zero degrees (0.degree.) to ninety degrees (90.degree.) of flexion benefits have been found because of lateralizing the patella in this flexion range. However, after ninety degrees (90.degree.) of flexion, the patella will be medialized which can increase the lateral force and shear force on the patella. This can lead to higher stresses at the bone implant interface and lead to more wear of the patella implant on the patella.
Current femoral prosthesis have convex proximal anterior regions from a lateral view. This results in the patella and/or ligaments being displaced anteriorly. By having a concave anterior region, the patella and the ligaments are displaced anteriorly less because there is less metal in the concave region. This more closely resembles the anatomical femur and helps to improve patella tracking.
Another problem with traditional external rotation is the increased complexity and difficulty in instrumentation. The alignment of the cutting blocks must be variable and there is a different setup for left and right knees. Also, it can be difficult to accurately judge three degrees (3.degree.) of external rotation when performing the surgery.